Knight, Brandt key as 'Cats fire back

Brandon Knight came up huge on return, Angus Brandt gave a crucial second half spark and the Perth Wildcats came back from 12 points down to snap their losing run and beat the Tasmania JackJumpers 98-92.

The Wildcats were playing their 10th game already inside RAC Arena for the season with the pressure beginning to mount after four consecutive defeats although they were boosted with the return of Knight.

The JackJumpers might have just been percentage off top spot, but were still without David Johnson, Nick Marshall, Ben Gold, Majok Deng and Bryce Hamilton, but still they opened up a 12-point lead by early in the second quarter.

Will Magnay and Josh Bannan were key to that imposing their will inside for Tasmania, but Brandt was the man to help turn that around for the Wildcats in the third quarter and the rest of the team benefited.

Perth ended up outscoring Tasmania 55-44 in the second half to regain some confidence and earn some faith back from their home fans for the eventual six-point win to improve to a 6-6 record.

Knight showed how much he'd been missed the last couple of games for the 'Cats and even with coming off the bench, played 21 minutes for 23 points with five assists and 3/6 three-point shooting.

Fellow imports Dylan Windler (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Kristian Doolittle (16 points, five rebounds, five assists) also played key roles while Jaron Rillie chimed in with 12 points and four assists.

But it was veteran big men Brandt (10 points, four rebounds, +16) and Jesse Wagstaff (11 points in 19 minutes) who were especially huge in the second half.

Tasmania are now 8-4 following the loss and the starters had to do a lot of the heavy lifting with just Nick Stoddart and the returning Ben Ayre providing some relief off the bench.

Taran Armstrong produced another 20 points and seven assists with Dakota Mathias playing all 40 minutes to go 5/9 from the outside for 17 points.

Kody Stattmann was in to start for Marshall and had 11 points and six rebounds while big men Will Magnay (19 points, 12 rebounds, five assists) and Josh Bannan (18 points, 12 rebounds, five assists) did a power of work.

The JackJumpers might not have played in six days, but their injury woes hadn’t subsided even though it didn’t slow them still as they ended up leading 21-19 by quarter-time.

Josh Bannan already had eight points and five rebounds with Taran Armstrong adding six points and two assists while Brandon Knight came off the bench for an impactful return with Perth for eight points and a couple of three balls.

The JackJumpers pushed out to a 12-point lead early in the second frame, and the visitors were still leading 48-43 by half-time with their five offensive rebounds to their name, and forcing the 'Cats into seven turnovers and just four themselves, crucial.

Bannan and Will Magnay had done well combining for 21 points and 11 rebounds for Tasmania while Knight didn’t add to his eight points in the second frame, but Kristian Doolittle was up to 11 points, three rebounds and three assists for Perth.

The Wildcats did work on top in the third quarter and it was big man Angus Brandt providing the energy. He might have still only had six points and three rebounds to three quarter-time, but was a +17 in his time out there.

Knight then added another six points too and Dylan Windler was up to 16 with the Wildcats leading 69-64 by three quarter-time.

That lead for the home team got out to 10 also early in the fourth period and 14 with five minutes to play, and the Wildcats answered the challenges the rest of the way for the six-point home win.

The Wildcats now have one more home game in their run of 11 of the first 13 matches of NBL27 when they host the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday night while the JackJumpers head to Brisbane to play the Bullets on Sunday.

PERTH WILDCATS 98 – TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 92

Perth Wildcats
Brandon Knight – 23 points, 5 assists, 3/6 3PT
Dylan Windler – 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists
Kristian Doolittle – 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
Jaron Rillie – 12 points, 4 assists
Jesse Wagstaff – 11 points, 1 rebound, 8/8 FT

Tasmania JackJumpers
Taran Armstrong – 20 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds
Will Magnay – 19 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists
Josh Bannan – 18 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists
Dakota Mathias – 17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Kody Stattmann – 11 points, 6 rebounds